Men's Day - Blu-ray

Film: Shock for the former school friends Stevie (Milan Peschel), Chris (Tom Beck), Peter (Oliver Wnuk) and Klaus-Maria (Axel Stein): Their buddy Dieter is dead. Even though they haven't seen him for many years, the four are concerned and therefore agree to his last will and testament: Together they are to take a trip on Dieter's beer bike to the place that was so meaningful to them in their youth and are to scatter his ashes there. Together with Stevie's son Paul (Chris Tall) and Andrea (Lavinia Wilson), the supposed girlfriend of actor Chris, they set off on a fun-filled men's trip. But what is supposed to be a damp and happy trip in memory of Dieter threatens to end in chaos at the latest when the friends meet their former rival Andi Mauz (Hannes Jaenicke).

Männertag is a well-cast comedy that walks similar paths to Hangover and its various clones. Thanks to the good-humoured cast, the rather unsurprising story is thoroughly enjoyable in places. But unfortunately the script lacks the sensitive touch that would have been necessary to make not only the crude gags work, but also the slightly more serious moments. A good example is the secret that Peter carries around with him (and that the audience sees through very early). The resolution is then arguably clunky, reducing this character to a cheap, cliché-only punchline. And that's just unnecessary.

Also, it's a shame that gags that are good in themselves get screwed up by being presented in a completely over-the-top way. Like how Chris tries to feed his addiction on a porta-potty is just not funny, it's just stupidly implemented. Scenes like this are supposed to be funny by shocking. That might have worked at one point, but by now this feces-soaked stylistic device is just too worn out to generate more than a tired smile at most. It's a shame that director Holger Haase (Da geht noch was!) has gone all sledgehammer here instead of developing the characters in an interesting way and building up genuinely funny situations.

This should make it clear that this film is not for people who like their humor served a little more subtle. On the other hand, those who like it a bit more hearty might have fun here. Because despite the mentioned weaknesses there are also some really nice gags and also some dramaturgically quite nice moments. Thus, the comedy remains under the bottom line behind its possibilities, but offers friends of damp-happy men's nights and crude jokes enough entertainment value to get in the end still a viewing value to be attested.

Picture + Sound: The Blu-ray's image pleases with bold coloration and decent overall sharpness. In some moments, the visuals also have a pleasing depth to the image, aided by the coherent contrasts. The sound is well mixed, primarily dominated by the dialogue and soundtrack. In the final act, however, a few decent sound effects are added to the mix, providing a bit of multichannel movement. Good.

Extras: As a bonus, the disc offers a nearly 3 minute look at the filming, as well as a couple of promo interviews with the cast. Just under 10 minutes of extras in total, which is unfortunately plenty weak for a recent theatrical production.

Conclusion: Men's Day can make up for many a low-slung gag with its good-humoured cast. Still, the comedy is unfortunately only able to live up to its potential to a limited extent. At least there are a few good laughs and quite nice ideas that show that the makers have their hearts in the right place and the whole thing is actually based on a charming idea. The Blu-ray is technically well implemented, the bonus material is unfortunately very scarce. Overall, there is still a decent for friends of the slightly deeper humor: recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp